By the Numbers: U.S. diplomatic presence

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GOP tries to keep Benghazi in forefront

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15 - Chief of mission vacancies in U.S. embassies

1 - "Virtual" U.S. embassy on the Internet

4 - Americans killed during Benghazi attack

Wednesday's hearing about last September's attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya has put the State Department and diplomatic security back in the political spotlight. By the numbers, here's a look at the U.S. diplomatic presence across the globe.

7 - Countries where the United States does not have a diplomatic presence even though the United States has diplomatic relationships: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Guinea-Bissau. U.S. embassies or consulates in other countries are responsible for diplomatic relations with these countries, according to the State Department.

More than 37,000 - U.S. Foreign Service National employees ("who are citizens of the country in which an embassy or other post is located," according to the State Department) serving in their home countries.

224 - Number of people, including 12 Americans, who were killed in a bombing on August 7, 1998, at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, that also injured 4,000. Another bombing at the embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on the same day killed 11 and injured 85.

12 - Number of people who were killed in a suicide bombing on June 14, 2002, at the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. Fifty-one were injured.